


living in two worlds

by lovleii



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Headcanon, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24023593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovleii/pseuds/lovleii
Summary: *Note: for this headcanon, Alice Longbottome née Fortescue was abandoned at birth by an unknown witch and was adopted and raised by the Fortescue’s.
Relationships: Rodolphus Lestrange/Alice Longbottom





	1. Chapter 1

  * Alice is fourteen years old the first time she sets foot in Malfoy Manor. She’s terrified and doesn’t know what to expect. Not only from the imposing house and her new life, but from her father and brother as well.
  * Lucius of course, she knows of from school, but it’s not as if they have many friends in common or reasons to interact.
  * She is self conscious of everything at that first meeting from what she’s wearing to how she talks and the way she fidgets and of course, her table manners.
  * Abraxas is surprising. He’s kind and soft in a way she never expected and she instantly feels what can only be described as warmth toward him. Lucius is different here than at school. He seems more open, his face shines like the sun when he smiles and Alice never had a sibling before but she feels an immediate kinship with him that only cements itself over that summer as they spend time together and get to know one another, creating memories and inside jokes.
  * Her parents are supportive and understanding, after all they always told her she was adopted and loved and wanted. They always gave her all the love she could ever want and more. Finding her birth family can only be seen as a blessing for Alice in their eyes.
  * They tell her this is a good thing. She’s not losing them but gaining the Malfoy’s.
  * She will always be their daughter but she should build her relationship with the Malfoys as well.
  * It is perfectly fine that she calls Abraxas Papa and she spends most of the summer at the Manor and that she’s excited for balls and fancy dresses and new friends and all the other things her new life affords her.
  * They tell her they love her, they tell her she deserves this, they tell her they tell her all this and more.
  * It gets easier to fit into her new role as a member of Society.
  * She makes friends with Narcissa Black, and Emma Vanity and they make it easier to adjust, filling her in on all the necessary gossip and the ins and outs of etiquette and decorum and what is now expected of her as Abraxas Malfoy’s daughter.
  * The first time Alice and Rodolphus actually speak is at the Malfoy Yule Ball that year. They both play quidditch at Hogwarts so it’s not like they don’t know who the other is, but at school they never had much to talk about other than the normal rival quidditch insults thrown around half heartedly.
  * She’s never had a crush before but Alice is fairly certain that the way her chest seems to tighten when he laughs and the way her stomach flips when he asks her for a single dance is pretty close to that.
  * He’s a perfect gentleman of course, all these Pureblood society types are, and why wouldn’t they be? They were born into this, the unspoken rules have been drilled into them since birth and even though Alice is doing her best she can’t help but notice the glances thrown her way every so often, the whispers followed by condescending smirks and not very kind giggles.
  * Rodolphus tells her to ignore them. _Your father has claimed you as his legitimate child_ he says. _That is all that matters_ he says. _You are one of us_ he says.
  * Coming from him it’s slightly different than when her father and brother and new friends said it. Coming from him it feels safe, and warm and welcoming and like the truth.
  * That night ~~or early the next morning~~ as she’s laying in bed, giggling with Emma and Narcissa, she goes quiet as she remembers Rodolphus is betrothed already.
  * That he was probably just being polite when he asked her to dance, that he was just being a gentleman, and a good friend of the family and that she’ll never actually have a chance at anything with him.
  * But when school starts back up after the holidays he smiles when he passes her in the corridors. He makes polite conversation when she comes to visit Lucius in the Slytherin common room ~~which may or may not happen a lot more than before and may or may not be completely unnecessary in nature.~~
  * Her days fall into an easy rhythm of balance between her two worlds. She goes to classes, has quidditch practices, still hangs out with all her friends and goes to the same clubs she did before, but now she makes time for Lucius and though he won’t admit it, he definitely likes having his sister around.
  * That school year ends much like the ones before it, but this time as Alice steps off the Hogwarts express she’s glowing with a newfound happiness.
  * She hugs three parents that day instead of two. She makes plans to visit Amos Diggory, because he’s been her best friend since first year, and all her other friends as she normally does; but this time there are plans that include Narcissa and Emma, and Abraxas taking Alice for a holiday to Paris and the family vacation Estate in Spain, and Alice never thought there had been anything missing in her life before, but now she **knows** there’s no way she would ever give this life up for anything.
  * Shortly after she graduates it will become clear just how very wrong she was.




	2. we will never burn the light out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alice falls for the unexpected

  * at first neither of them realizes it for what it is
  * alice is just happy to have a few new friends to help her navigate this strange new world and narcissa is happy to be accepted for who she is.
  * that first summer is all giggles and sleepovers and afternoons lazing about by the pool
  * it's alice shoving bowls of ice cream at narcissa and the two of them walking arm and arm down diagon alley, window shopping and actual shopping and acting as if they own the place
  * when they get back to school that september things carry on in very much the same way.
  * they have a few classes together yes, but more often than not they have to actually make an effort to see each other.
  * there are afternoon study sessions out on the courtyard under a tree and evening sessions in the library stifling giggles and dodging looks from Madame Pince. there are weekend trips to hogsmeade together walking arm in arm as usual.
  * then narcissa starts to show up to sit in the stands and watch the hufflepuff quidditch practices
  * the first time she sees her in the stands, alice's stomach does that flip flopping sensation and she almost misses the snitch as it zooms past her.
  * but she writes it off as just being excited that one of her friends bothered to show up for a practice at all
  * still, there's a noticeable shift between them. alice can feel a palpable excitability whenever they spend time together
  * there's a softness there that wasn't there before. linking arms turns to holding hands, turns to eyes that lock a little too long to be just a coincidence.
  * that christmas, they both go home for the holidays as usual. narcissa is allowed to spend the night before the malfoy yule ball and as they're giggling sleepily and planning their outfits for the following evening they share a hesitant kiss.
  * they smile against each other's lips and the next morning they wake up in a tangle of limbs.
  * alice can swear that something is about to change, everything feels magical and perfect and she's happier than she's ever been.
  * that evening Lucius' betrothal to Narcissa is announced publicly.
  * it's alice's first true test of etiquette in pureblood society. she manages through with a smile plastered on her face, and hugs her brother to congratulate him.
  * she does manage to sneak away for a few moments to allow herself to hyperventilate in peace. to gather herself and blink away the tears as she mourns something that she never really had in the first place.
  * she tells herself that it's not going to change anything because nothing really happened in the first place. all that she feels for narcissa and the way it fills her up and chokes her is just her misplaced friendship. her loyalty and affection.
  * she'll get over this
  * narcissa is still her best friend and better yet, they'll be sisters.
  * but that does nothing to help ease the ache in her chest as she watches her brother and his future bride stand side by side greeting guests and practicing for their future together as Lord and Lady Malfoy.




End file.
